To prevent outsiders (e.g., “hackers”) from accessing a network, firewalls and/or intrusion detection systems (IDS) are installed in the network. A firewall is a program or a set of related programs typically located at a network server that protects the resources of the network from other networks. In particular, the firewall examines each network packet to determine whether to forward the network packet to its destination. For example, the firewall may stop all incoming traffic from the Internet but allow outgoing traffic. While the firewall may be adequate to protect the network from outside intrusions, an IDS may be more suited to protect the network from internal intrusions. For example, the IDS may recognize an attack that is undetected by the firewall because the firewall serves as a fence between the network and the Internet but does not screen information from within the network.
Today, firewalls and/or IDS are parts of the main operating system (OS) in the network. If the main OS is exploited and breached by a hacker and/or a virus, the lines of code implementing the firewalls and/or IDS may be vulnerable and exposed as well. Thus, using currently-available OS-based firewalls and/or IDS, the network may be left unprotected from outside and/or inside intrusions.